Attaché
by Hellohellomynameisvertigo
Summary: Tsunade decides to remove Hinata from Team 8, and puts her under Kurenai's tutelage to learn the art of diplomacy. A year in a school called Hogwarts? That should be easy.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Hello everyone! I have high hopes for this story, and I hope you will all enjoy it. For everyone's information, this will be set during the time skip, and will be a crossover between Naruto and Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. Disclaimer: Sadly, I own neither of these. If I did I wouldn't be living on instant noodles in a cheap-ass dorm room.**

**Attaché - an official under an Ambassador who acts as a diplomat or a representative of one nation to another. **

**_**

Team 8, punctual as always, was assembled outside the Hokage's office at 7 am years had passed since the invasion by Sound and Sand, and the village was on the path to a speedy recovery. However, it had taken out a lot of their shinobi from the active roster, and consequently, Tsunade was forced to work those remaining to the bone until the newest graduates could be trained properly. Kurenai's team was no exception - they were still genin, but in two years they had barely had two month's worth of rest from work.

Shizune ushered the team in, and shot a glare at the Hokage on her way back to her desk. Obviously this was about how they were all overworked. The kids deserved a break, really, and Tsunade knew that. Kiba was buckling under the strain: she caught the exhaustion behind his normally animated eyes. The bags under Hinata's did nothing for her face, and even Shino's afro was a tad bit droopy.

But they were short on recon teams, and this one was proving to be a real asset. It would be a shame to take them apart. She weighed her words carefully as she put down her reading glasses, and spoke.

"You've done good work, kids. It's time you got a vacation."

Their reactions were instantaneous - Hinata's head shot up, eyes wide; Kiba gave a whoop and started dancing a jig in front of the Hokage, and Shino adjusted his glasses. Oh well, she never did get much of a reaction from that Aburame anyway. Much less the rest of his clan. She cleared her throat and, ignoring the fact that Kiba was now shaking his ass at Akamaru, tried to look as stern as possible.

"Kiba, Shino, I'll be giving you two months off. Use that to rest and to hone your tracking skills. If I see that you've improved, I'll promote you both to chuunin when you get back. Is this clear?"

Kiba froze, jaw dropped. His eyes immediately slid to the right. Hinata's head snapped back down, and he could smell the tears gathering at her eyes from three feet away. Me and Shino, promoted to chuunin? This isn't fair!, he thought - Hinata had worked as hard as he did, if not harder! Vaguely, he saw Shino shift slightly, and was just about to protest when the other boy beat him to it.

"What of Hinata?" he said hotly. The girl just seemed to shrink even further into herself. Kiba panicked when he saw her hands start to shake. He was never great at comforting girls when they cry, and if Hinata did, he would probably just end up making things worse.

Meanwhile, Tsunade was surprised. Sure, she knew that they were probably the most team-oriented of their generation, but it really was remarkable that the boys thought of their teammate first before celebrating their impending promotion. Kurenai had done a wonderful job with these kids.

"Hinata will be assigned to an extended mission with Kurenai. It seems to me that she will do better in a different line of work." The Hokage fished out four sets of paychecks from a stack of papers, and handed it out to the four nin lined up in front of her desk. "This is the bounty from the latest missing nin you took in. As I've said, good work. Kiba, Shino, you are both dismissed. Hinata, stay back, will you? We'll have to go through the details of your mission."

The boys still looked mutinous. Kiba did, anyway; it was slightly more difficult to tell with Shino, but if the buzzing under his coat was anything to go by, he was still pretty agitated. Neither made a move to leave.

"I find this arrangement illogical." Shino finally said.

Blond eyebrows shot up. This boy was arguing with the Hokage's logic? Granted, it was logic under the influence of sake, but still, this was new. "Oh? Why is that?"

The envelope disappeared into Shino's coat, and the boy straightened out his glasses (again) before speaking. "Hinata has improved by leaps and bounds during our time in the field. Her expanding range has been the cause of our recent successful captures, along with Kiba's improving sense of smell and my growing hive. You know as well as I do that our teamwork is the backbone of our achievements in tracking, and removing her from our team will greatly diminish our chances of success."

The girl colored from his praise, but continued to fidget. Their other teammate nodded vigorously. "Umm, what Shino said. Yeah, it makes sense. So why are you taking Hinata-chan away?!" His eyes flashed.

Seeing that Kiba was going to start yelling soon, Kurenai decided to intervene. "We all know that we're short on people, Kiba, so Hokage-sama has to make some changes to ensure that there are people assigned to all the tasks that need to be done. In your class, you boys are the best choices for tracking, and your friend Ino has already been recommended to Interrogation. Hinata here happened to be the best choice at another assignment."

The boy wheeled around, facing his sensei. "So you knew that Hinata-chan was getting re-assigned, and you didn't bother to tell us?!"

Irritated, Kurenai made to shush Kiba, but a small cough from Hinata drew everyone's eyes on her.

"A-ano, Tsunade-sama, which division are you going to relocate me to?"

Hazel eyes flicked to the girl, and she sighed. She still wasn't sure if she was making the right choice, but the times have forced her hands. Besides, Hinata seemed to learn best on the job. "Diplomacy, Hinata. Diplomacy and politics."

Nobody spoke. All three children were thinking the same thing.

Hinata finally looked up, and Tsunade was surprised by the sudden steel in her eyes. "Father requested the reassignment, didn't he?" she said quietly. Akamaru started growling softly, and Kiba's eyes narrowed to slits.

"What the hell, Tsunade-sama! Just because some dumb fuck like Hinata's dad told you that reconnaissance is too dangerous for their precious heiress doesn't mean that Hinata can't take care of herself! She - oww!"

Tsunade leaned back on her chair and watched as Shino snatched the bottle that hit his teammate from the air. An eyebrow was twitching - Kiba could give Naruto a run for his money when it came to volume. The boy glowered at her defiantly. "I won't let you make her do something she doesn't want to!"

"K-kiba-kun." Hinata stepped forward and placed a placating hand on her teammate's shoulder. "I really don't m-mind. If Hokage-sama believes that I will be better suited to this, a-and Kurenai-sensei agrees, then -"

"Besides, I'm not giving her this assignment because that dumb fuck Hiashi told me to." Tsunade said, amused. Heh. Dumb fuck. If Hiashi knew that such coarse language was being used around his daughter regularly he would probably have an aneurysm. "I'm giving it to her because it's a mission that she is the best equipped to deal with in your age group. You do know that a lot of our emissaries to the Rock and Mist have either retired or died, right?"

"Died?" Kiba's jaw hung open again, and Shino's back straightened slightly. "You're not going to send Hinata-chan there, it's too -"

"Shut up, Kiba. Let her finish. And what happened to '_Hinata-chan can take care of herself'_?" Kurenai growled from behind them.

"Anyway, I'm going to need competent replacements. Hinata was the best choice, and before we field her to the more dangerous areas, we're going to have to train her. This is what the mission is for, so get out now. The girls have to talk." Tsunade snapped. Kiba slumped in defeat, and followed his silent teammate out of the office.

"We'll wait for you at our usual training ground." he whispered to Hinata. The girl nodded, and Kiba gave her a wink before he disappeared behind the door.

**A/N: Please leave a review! I'll try to update within the week. : Don't hesitate to PM or review for comments. Criticism is welcome, but please be respectful. Thanks! **

**~Vertigo**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: This chapter ended up a lot longer than I expected. Still, I hope you guys enjoy it!**

* * *

"Well, let's get right to business now, shall we?" Tsunade said brusquely, digging out a file from the mountain of paperwork sitting on her desk. "Kurenai is highly skilled in reconnaissance, but most of her jounin career was spent in Rock, actually, as an envoy for Sarutobi-sensei. Isn't that right?"

Kurenai nodded. "Things got tense after a while, so Sandaime-sama was forced to pull me out. He assigned me to your team shortly after."

Hinata looked up at her sensei questioningly. "Sensei, you never m-mentioned anything about this before."

"I never needed to."

"She's experienced with this kind of thing, and since you two work well together already, I'm putting you under apprenticeship with Kurenai. Aha!" Two files were unceremoniously pulled out of a stack and given to the two kunoichi. "An old friend of Sarutobi-sensei's paid me a visit last week. I was surprised to see him; the relationship between Konoha and his country has been stagnant ever since sensei died. Apparently, they were going to hold some sort of tournament that's supposed to celebrate friendship between the magical communities, camaraderie and all that, and he invited us to send a few delegates to compete."

The file contained copies of the letters that "Daambaadouru" and "Paju" sent, along with a set of the tournament's rules and maps and instructions on how to get there. Hinata glanced through them before looking back up to Tsunade.

"You, Hinata, will participate in this tournament. Kurenai will act as Konoha's official envoy to the Ministry of Magic, and will also act as Konoha's panelist for the tournament." Tsunade rattled off. "Immerse yourselves as much as you can in the culture, and Hinata, try to do something about your stutter, hmm? I can't let you represent Konoha if you stutter through every negotiation. Any questions?"

The genin swallowed the humiliation that accompanied the Hokage's mention of her stutter, and crushed the urge to fiddle with her fingers. "A-ano," she said, cursing her infernal stutter in her head, "you mentioned delegates. Who will b-be accompanying us, then?"

Tsunade sighed. "If you'll look closely at the rules they've provided, only one representative will be chosen from each delegation. Given the current condition that the village is in, I don't think it's worth it to send more than one chuunin away for nearly a year."

Hinata's eyes widened, and Kurenai chuckled. "C-chuunin?!"

"Oh yeah." Tsunade replied, annoyed. She had wanted to surprise the kid so badly she fainted, but it must've slipped out. Damned sake. She grabbed a flak jacket from behind her desk and threw it at the girl. Hinata caught it, disbelief written all over her face as she hugged the jacket close. "Congratulations, I'm promoting you to chuunin." the Hokage said dryly.

Hinata fainted anyway.

* * *

"Let's go through this again." Kurenai was saying as she and her student were walking back to training ground 15. "Diplomacy and politics are all about appearance, so you're going to pack some kimono along with your training clothes to this mission. Never mind packing light; this is the one field in the work of a kunoichi where wardrobe is everything, so make sure you have enough clothes with you. Pack up a few dresses as well, it'll be better to be prepared. You still have to bring your ninja gear with you, and don't think that you're going to stop training just be - are you even listening, Hinata?"

The girl was still walking beside her with that glazed look in her eyes, clutching the flak jacket Tsunade had chucked at her. Kurenai chuckled, and gave up trying to talk. She wouldn't need to lecture Hinata on grace, courtesy, and taste, after all. "Alright, since you're not going to pay attention to me today anyway, why don't you take the day off? Spend some time with Kiba and Shino, then go shopping with the girls. We leave two weeks from now, remember, so if you need to get some things settled with your father you might want to do it soon."

Hinata snapped out of her reverie at the mention of her father, and she looked up to Kurenai fearfully. "S-sensei, I'm not s-sure if Father will take to the news well. My d-debut is coming up s-soon, and I-I w-well..."

Kurenai's chuckling morphed into laughter; Hiashi would love to have this mission as an excuse to postpone the whole business of debuts and marriage proposals. Say what you will about the man training his daughters harshly; he does care about them very much, and seems just like the type to be overprotective of his daughters' hearts.

"I'm sure your father won't mind at all, Hinata-chan. It is an official mission, and if he isn't convinced by that maybe your recent promotion will."

At the mention of the promotion, her student's eyes glowed, and she couldn't help but feel happy for the girl. "I'll be going now; we'll meet up tomorrow at the usual, 8 am." Kurenai gave her another proud smile. "Congratulations again on your promotion." she said as she disappeared in a swirl of leaves.

Hinata blinked, and broke into a run for training ground 15.

* * *

"I KNEW IT! THERE WAS JUST NO WAY HOKAGE-SAMA COULD PROMOTE US SEPARATELY, THERE'S JUST NO WAY YOU CAN DO THAT TO TEAM 8! WE'RE THE BEST! WE'RE AWESOME! WHOOO!"

Fifteen minutes had passed since Hinata broke the news, and Kiba still hadn't decided to shut up. Hinata lay back against the tree, soaking up the feel of the wind against her face. Shino crouched beside her, taking great care not to startle a beetle that was travelling up the tree trunk she was leaning against.

"Has Kurenai-sensei informed you of what exactly you will be studying over the course of the year?" he asked in a low voice. Kiba started playing with Akamaru in the nearby stream, and the dog had to dodge the wave of water from Kiba's cannonball.

"She has, but she told me to take today off." she replied. "We leave in two weeks."

A small 'pop' came from beside her; Shino had managed to catch the beetle and was now screwing a small jar closed. The blue insect scuttled up and down the walls of the jar to no avail as he tucked it calmly into his coat. "I hope you do well in this new field, Hinata-chan. However, if you decide that you would rather not continue in that line, you will always be welcome to come back to our team."

His sunglasses gleamed, and right then Hinata knew that he meant every word he said.

* * *

"Oh my god, shopping? Hinata, asking us to go shopping?" Ino squealed. The three girls were sitting around a table in a small cafe beside the Yamanaka flower shop. Hinata nodded meekly; there was a gleam in Sakura's eyes that she had learned to associate with bouts of manic dress hunting. Frankly, it was scaring her.

"What's the occasion, anyway?" the pinkette teased. Ino clapped a hand to her mouth, barely containing a shriek.

"Did you use your money as the Hyuuga heiress to get someone to tail Naruto and now you heard that he's coming back and you want to get a dress because you're going to confess to him oh my god Hinata you should have done this years ago but I'll have to admit waiting until you got boobs was a good idea I mean look at them I know just the dress to make this work if you want to seduce him with your breasts Anko-senpai told me that -"

"B-but Ino-chan I d-d-don't have anyone t-tailing Naruto-k-kun!"

Really, it should be impossible to turn fifty shades of red in under ten seconds, Sakura told herself. As amusing as it was to see Hinata splutter as Ino grilled her about her cup size, if she fainted there would be no shopping spree. "Stop it Ino, can't you see that you're going to give Hinata-chan a heart attack?"

"Really, Ino-chan, it's just because I w-was assigned on a d-diplomacy mission for the year. Kurenai-sensei told me that I was g-going to need to u-update my wardrobe. I just got the bounty from that missing-nin we took in - maybe you guys c-could help me buy clothes?"

Oh dear. Hinata didn't know what she was getting into. The moment she said "buy", Ino's eyes turned positively predatory, and her two friends hauled her off to store after store after store to try on dress after dress after dress. By twilight Hinata had every article of clothing she might need, including (but not limited to) jeans, tops, coats, sundresses, swimsuits, boots, heels, shoes, hats - Sakura even expertly chose a gorgeous yellow gown for her.

The trip had been exhausting, but it was worth it.

* * *

It was always difficult not to fidget when she was in a room with her father. His presence was suffocating to Hinata - the sternness in his eyes always made her feel woefully inadequate. She tried to calm her nerves with a sip of tea, but it really didn't help much.

As usual, she made sure to stay outside as late as possible. This time, though, it really didn't require much of an effort; Ino had been so caught up in the impromptu shopping spree to care about Hinata's curfew. She had arrived just in time for dinner, and she had run into her father on the sprint back to her room to hide the shopping bags from the afternoon. Thankfully, he didn't comment, and swept past her on his way to the dining room.

Dinner was a quiet affair that evening. None of the children ever spoke without being spoken to, and Hiashi never really had anything to talk about apart from inquiring about their training. That is, until today.

"Hinata, you're going to turn fourteen this December, correct?" he suddenly asked, peering at his eldest daughter from above the rim of his tea cup.

"Y-yes, Father." she answered, eyes darting downward. Hiashi didn't miss the sudden movement, and sighed exasperatedly. "The council has already spoken to me about arranging a betrothal for you." She immediately stiffened, and Hanabi looked up from her rice, eyes round.

"Father, neechan is just thirteen! She can't go yet!" she spluttered through a mouthful of rice. She had only started to spend time with Hinata in the past few years, whenever she wasn't on missions - he can't take her away yet!

Neji looked at his younger cousin calmly. "Uncle never mentioned marriage, Hanabi-sama."

Both girls relaxed. "We will need to make preparations for this, then." Hiashi continued. "Speak to the Hokage about clearing your schedule for the latter half of December; the council doesn't want you knee-deep in genin work -"

"Father, I will be on a mission in December." Hinata interrupted. Her father raised his eyebrows. She interrupts him in the middle of a sentence, and she doesn't stutter? Even Neji and Hanabi looked confused.

Hinata blushed, but refused to break eye contact with her father. "Hokage-sama promoted me to chuunin this morning, and reassigned me to the diplomacy division." Hiashi's brows shot up further, while Hanabi's jaw dropped. "She is sending me to an extended mission with Kurenai-sensei two weeks from now, and we are not expected to return until June next year. The details are classified, of course, but I hope this arrangement is amenable to you, Father. Tsunade-sama did not allow me to refuse the mission."

Hiashi regarded her impassively for a minute, then broke into a small smile. "Alright. I will inform the elders."

"Neechan, you were promoted and you didn't even tell me?!" Hanabi wailed from her place across Hinata. She opened her mouth to complain some more, but Neji beat her to it.

"Isn't it rather early for Hokage-sama to send you on such a long mission immediately after your promotion?" he asked, blinking at her owlishly.

"Obviously the Hokage trusts in her abilities enough." Hiashi said. "Chuunin at thirteen? Not the best, but definitely satisfactory."

Satisfactory? Her father thought her performance was satisfactory? Hinata reddened - that was a glowing compliment, coming from her father! She shyly returned the smile, and gave a small bow.

Hiashi's eyelid twitched, and tore his gaze away from his daughter. She really was beginning to look like her mother.

The rest of the dinner passed by in contented silence.

* * *

**A/N: Please don't forget to leave a review! : Comments and criticism are very much appreciated. **


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: I'm sorry it took a while for me to upload this chapter - I make it a point to be at least one chapter ahead before I upload another, and I'm actually only halfway through the next one. This one was very fun to write though - Hanabi is such a cutie, pretending to be all that when deep inside she's just really a 9 year old kid who will miss her older sister. Hihi. I really enjoyed writing this bit. **

**Should I still include a disclaimer? Well, for what it's worth, I own neither Harry Potter nor Naruto. **

* * *

She knew it was against the rules to use your Byakugan to spy on others in the Hyuuga household, but Hanabi couldn't help it. In denial of Hinata's impending mission, she didn't spend much time with her older sister in the past two weeks. Right now though, her stomach was a pit full of regret - watching her sister pack up her clothes just brought home how soon neechan was going to leave.

She was going to leave home tomorrow, Hanabi realized. She bolted up and hurried to Hinata's room - but, just outside the door, she hesitated.

What was she going to say to her sister anyway?

_"Goodbye, neechan. I love you"?_

Too sappy. Much too sappy. Besides, if she said that, Hinata would cry.

_"Take care of yourself on your mission."?_

Well, duh, everybody has to take care of themselves on missions. Hanabi internally smacked herself on the forehead. And people called her a genius.

_"All eyes will be on you in this mission - do not disgrace the clan."_

That's more like it. Straight to the point and dignified, and it won't ever be misinterpreted for something touchy-feely or anything.

Satisfied, Hanabi moved to knock, but the door suddenly opened and she was enveloped into a tight hug. For such a small girl, the pressure from her sister's hug was startling, and the wind was knocked out of her as Hinata dragged her into the room and shut the door behind her.

"I'm going to miss you very much, Hanabi-chan." Hinata said, her voice muffled by her younger sister's hair and tears forming at the corners of her eyes.

Hanabi, however, was incensed. What would people say when they saw the two Hyuuga heiresses hugging, of all things! The action was completely beneath them! To make matters worse, Hinata was tearing up. Having never cried herself in her entire life, she had no idea how to handle or tolerate waterworks of any kind.

Suddenly, her neechan released the hug, and grinned at Hanabi (idiotically, in the 9-year old's opinion). "I've spoken to Tsunade-sama about letters, and she said that Fudge-sama has made arrangements for our mail to be sent to us by owl. We could exchange letters, Hanabi-chan! We've never done that when I was away on missions before!"

Hanabi looked at her sister, then sighed. "You do realize that when I inform Father, he will take the chance to forward your suitors' mail to you?" she deadpanned. "You know he hates sorting through their love letters."

That earned her a girly (ack!) giggle from her elder sister, and a pat on the head (ack!). "That's much better than having to go home for my debut; I'd take it over the parties anytime. Besides, the poems aren't so bad. Masahiro-san is actually an excellent poet."

_Aren't so bad. Yeah right_, Hanabi thought with a snort as she plopped down on Hinata's bed. Masahiro, the youngest out of the daimyo's fourteen sons, was the greatest sap of the entire Fire Country, and regularly wrote Hinata cutesy poems that generally compare her hair to "the inky night sky" or her skin to "ivory petals". In addition to that, he would always send her some sort of gift, usually the thing that he compared her to in the poem. He even sent her a whole sakura tree for that poem about neechan's blush; it was ridiculous.

Given that he was already in his twenties, and Hinata was still thirteen, it was also creepy.

"Although I do wish he would stop sending all these gifts" Hinata said, frowning. "Father hasn't even mentioned that he would be entertaining proposals anytime soon, and yet he sends all this!" Exasperatedly, she surveyed the pile of trinkets on her desk. Hanabi snickered again.

"The worst part is he's ten years older than you." she chimed. Hinata huffed, grabbed a beautiful tortoiseshell comb from the pile, and sat down next to her sister. Obediently, Hanabi sat up.

"Never mind Masahiro." Hinata said gently, pulling the comb through her sister's hair. "I'll be looking forward to your letters, Hanabi-chan. I'll write to you regularly, maybe even send you some packages. Would you like that?"

The nine-year-old's lilac eyes lit up, and she yanked her head away to look at her sister. "Candy please? Milk and banana flavoured candy?" she begged. Hinata laughed and put her back in place. "Alright then."

The two spent the rest of the night chatting animatedly about training, missions, and Hanabi's growing crush on her Academy classmate Konohamaru.

* * *

The next day, Hinata found herself in a beautiful white kimono, standing in front of the Hokage's desk again. A grimy old raincoat was sitting on the only clear space on the desk, and Tsunade was focused on reading the small piece of parchment that arrived with it via owl mail.

"I believe this is a Portkey?" Kurenai said, eyeing the coat distastefully. Hinata jumped - she hadn't heard her sensei coming into the office at all, and mentally reproached herself. Of course this was a Portkey - why else would a disgusting raincoat be on Tsunade-sama's desk if it weren't of importance?

"Apparently it is." Tsunade replied agitatedly. "I really don't understand how it works, though." She looked up from the piece of paper and took off her reading glasses. "Crouch says that you just have to be touching it at exactly 9:02 am, and it should bring you to the Ministry of Magic in London."

Mentally, Hinata went through the plans and protocol that she and Kurenai discussed. They were to be welcomed by the Minister and his associates, and her sensei was to negotiate a place for her in Hogwarts for the upcoming term. Making contacts early was important, and in ten years, the friends that Hinata would make in the school would most probably hold high positions in the government.

That would make future diplomatic relations very convenient, in more ways than one. She was determined to do well – both on the mission and in her studies on magic. That would also prove to be useful.

A clatter from the desk drew Hinata's attention. The blond had taken out a bottle of sake, and she rubbed a hand across her tired eyes. "Honestly, I'd rather you not use their method of transportation. Who knows if it's secure? But they don't seem to be a particularly belligerent group, and since Fudge came to visit me himself the other day, I don't think this could be a trap."

Kurenai looked at the Hokage incredulously. "You expect us to use the Portkey, then?" She, as do most shinobi, relied on nothing else but her own two feet as a means of transportation. Anyone can be a potential enemy, and accepting transport from a group they haven't even spoken to in two years was an incredible security risk.

"If you don't take the Portkey, it would take two weeks to get there." Tsunade replied sourly. "I want you to be there for the _Kuhijicho_ championships – you can establish some key non-government contacts there. If you don't take the Portkey you'll miss it."

The jounin made to argue further, but decided against it. These were the Hokage's orders; she would follow them. She pulled back the left sleeve of her green kimono to check the time, and saw that they had ten minutes left until the time Crouch indicated.

"A-ano, Hokage-sama." Hinata suddenly said. Tsunade shifted her attention to the girl.

"Do you think it would be p-possible to arrange for visitors sometime during the mission?" she asked hopefully.

Hazel eyes studied her carefully. "I will be sending someone at the end of every quarter to pick up your mission reports – depending on this person's level of clearance it may be possible for him to visit." The Hokage's eyes sparkled in suppressed mirth. "Did you want Naruto to come visit you?" she teased.

Hinata's entire face burned up, and she struggled to keep herself from fainting. "N-n-no, Hokage-s-sama. I w-was thinking of H-hanabi-chan. I will b-be away for a l-long time, she will miss m-me very much." She stammered.

Again, Tsunade was surprised at how easy it was to push this girl's buttons. This will have to be rectified soon, and she gave Kurenai a meaningful look. The brunette nodded sharply. "I suppose we can make arrangements, but your father won't be happy about it. Both of his daughters in some faraway country with no one but Kurenai to ensure their safety?"

The girl immediately ducked her head in shame. It was silly of her to ask in the first place – what chuunin needed someone to visit her during an important mission, anyway?

"But if I send her with Jiraiya and Naruto, I'm sure Hiashi wouldn't argue at all!" the Hokage sang out. Hinata immediately started swaying on her feet, and both of the older women laughed. Young love was cute, Tsunade thought, smiling to herself as she checked the time.

9:00 AM. "Okay girls, we have two minutes. Any last questions?"

Both kunoichi shook their heads.

"Alright. So take that filthy raincoat off my desk then."

Hinata looked at her sensei uncertainly as the woman took the coat and held it out to her. She gripped the sleeve gingerly, and all three women waited with bated breaths.

At exactly 9:02 am, a flash of blue light filled the room, and Hinata was suddenly pulled up by an invisible force around her midsection. She looked around in panic, and immediately shut her eyes – the whirlwind of colors surrounding her made it disorienting to keep them open. She held onto the Portkey with all her might, and, as quickly as it started, her feet were back on the ground.

* * *

**A/N: Please don't forget to leave a review! All comments and criticism are appreciated! **


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: I'm so sorry it took so long for this chapter to come out. For some reason I found it really difficult to write it; I don't like Fudge or Crouch all that much, so I guess that ate away at my drive to write this chapter. Writing this made me realize how difficult it really is to write from Hinata's perspective - a lot of people end up painting her as a Mary Sue, and given her character it's really easy to fall into that trap. I actually had to rewrite my basic plot line a bit, to make room for a more realistic character and growth for Hinata-chan. She's awesome, yeah, but just for a moment there I almost wrote up a super genius super powered Hinata. And I really don't want that. **

**With that said, I find writing about Hinata from someone else's perspective really enjoyable. Especially from Hanabi's, actually, so you might find more of those in the coming chapters. **

**And lol self insert lol.**

* * *

Mercifully, Hinata stayed on her feet as she and her sensei landed, her eyes squeezed shut. Her head was spinning in a vortex of colors, and as she struggled to regain her bearings, she felt Kurenai take the raincoat from her. She stumbled forward and landed on something large and heavy. Unable to fight the vertigo, she leaned against what felt like an armchair, catching her breath.

A pinch to her hip pried her eyes open, and Kurenai's displeased face swam into focus.

"If we weren't alone in this room, you would be dead by now." her sensei scolded.

White eyes widened at the realization of the mistake, and Hinata began to stammer out apologies. The brunette cut her off.

"Now isn't the time for excuses. I want you to take a good look around you and tell me what you see. You're a Hyuuga, and in the Main House at that; you're no stranger to politics."

Hinata hastened to obey, and scanned the room. They were in a small room containing only two sofas in front of a fireplace. Although the furnishing was sparse, the carpets were thick and luxurious, the walls lined with large (moving!) portraits. There was a large window on the wall opposite them, with a view of blue, cloudless skies. The most striking feature of the room, however, was the fact that they were quite alone.

As alone as they could get, anyway, with the portraits surrounding them bursting into chatter.

"We appear to be in s-some sort of waiting room, sensei." Hinata finally replied.

Kurenai looked at her expectantly.

"The room looks expensive, so that can mean that their country is rich, or that our contact is d-deliberately trying to impress us." she elaborated. "I would've checked the state of the adjoining rooms, and those in the lower levels, but if they detect it, activating my Byakugan can be interpreted as a sign of hostility."

The teacher raised an eyebrow, but said nothing. Hinata plowed on, eager to redeem herself after her initial gaffe.

"Also, we are alone in the room. Our contact is keeping us w-waiting - either this is another power play, or he is very busy and we aren't a p-priority."

Satisfied, Kurenai nodded. "I see that you've absorbed some of Shino's logic." Hinata smiled uncertainly.

"Your analysis of our lack of supervision is correct. They have these portraits to keep guard, so they're not fussed about having two potentially hostile shinobi in one of their waiting rooms." The brunette began to walk around the room, scrutinizing the paintings. "I'm surprised that you didn't catch on to the genjutsu by the window, though. We're actually underground; your eyes should have picked that up immediately."

Hinata's face burned up in shame - not even fifteen minutes into the mission and she had already made two major mistakes.

Red eyes flicked to the girl, and Kurenai gave a small smile. "Don't worry, it's your first day on this job. Just find a way to activate them discreetly, okay?"

"Hai, sensei!" the girl replied, bowing.

The sound of approaching footsteps put both kunoichi on alert. Hinata slid into a defensive stance just as the door burst open. Her sensei's arm shot out to restrain her as a harried-looking young man in thick glasses barged in."Ms. Yuuhi!" he said, breathless. "I am so sorry; there was a spot of trouble upstairs and I was sent to sort it out - I'm Percy Weasley, from the Department of International Magical Cooperation." he added hastily.

Kurenai watched in amusement as he bowed rather clumsily, and the two women bowed back. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Weasley." she said in heavily accented English. She gestured to Hinata, and her student's inky head dipped again. "My apprentice, Hinata. We were under the impression that we were to meet up with Mr. Fudge and Mr. Crouch?

"Ah, yes." The man stepped aside. "This way please."

He led them through a stone corridor, lit by torches hanging on the walls. "I'm going to be your guide for most of your stay here." he said as he walked briskly through the halls. There were more portraits lined up outside, and as Hinata followed Weasley she noticed that the people in the portraits were following them. Slightly disturbed, she forced herself to focus on the path they were currently taking.

They stopped in a circular hall with a lift in the middle, and Weasley stepped in. Warily, the two kunoichi followed, and around half a dozen paper airplanes zoomed into the lift as the doors slid shut. Hinata watched them interestedly as they descended, and two floors down, the lift came to a halt. A disembodied voice announced that they were on "Level Five, Minister's office", and the golden grates slid open.

The redhead swept out, and came to a stop in front of a pair of oak doors. He knocked sharply, and opened the door for the two women.

"Go on ahead; after your meeting, I will escort you to your lodgings."

Kurenai gave the young man a dazzling smile. "Thank you, Percy." She entered the room with Hinata at her heel.

* * *

Two men were having a heated discussion inside the office, and their conversation broke off abruptly when the Kurenai and Hinata walked in. The man seated behind the desk stood up in welcome. "Good morning!", he said, beaming. "Have a seat! Kurenai, wasn't it? I trust you had a pleasant journey?"

The other man walked up to the window, still looking furious. Pale eyes darted between the two men in apprehension as Kurenai and the man who introduced himself to be Cornelius Fudge chatted amiably. The one by the window, with the incredibly neat moustache, would have to be Barty Crouch. He looked incredibly stressed, and with bags like those under his eyes, he wasn't likely to be having much sleep either.

While Hinata made the appropriate replies at the appropriate times, she spent most of the meeting observing everything around them, as per the plan she and her sensei came up with in the last week. Kurenai would talk, and Hinata would listen - not just to what everyone was saying, but to what everyone meant. "Reading between the lines, looking underneath the underneath... They're even more essential in politics than they are in battle, Hinata." the jounin had told her.

Mr. Crouch was now offering her a plate of biscuits, and Hinata took a few politely. "So, young lady, are you enjoying your holiday from school so far?" he asked her in a voice that was meant to be kind. However, she didn't miss the appraising glint in his eyes.

_Shouldn't you still be in school? Aren't you a little too young to be involved in important government affairs?_

"I suppose you're feeling quite anxious- so young, and you'll be having to stay in a strange new place with strange new people and strange new magic." he continued.

_It's insulting that your Hokage sends us an adolescent as a diplomatic attache - doesn't she take us seriously enough to send us a real diplomat?_

Her mouth was suddenly dry, and it became difficult to swallow the biscuit.

"Actually, Mr. Crouch, I g-graduated from the Academy two years ago. I've been working in Reconnaissance and R-R-Retrieval since then." she stammered.

Kurenai glanced at her fleetingly.

_I told you to get rid of your stutter._

Hinata lowered her head in shame, and continued quietly. "Most of our work required us to immerse ourselves in different cultures; it will always be an h-honor for me to to get to know d-different people and different magic. I l-look forward to getting a-a-acquainted with your culture."

Her sensei sighed, but Crouch looked taken aback.

_Reconnaissance and Retrieval? That sounds like a military operation. What kind of magic do you use, and what kind of country do you live in to send children like you into a military operation?_

He made to question her further, but Fudge interrupted.

"Really?" the Minister beamed. "You should come to the Quidditch World Cup, then - it'll be a great opportunity to meet people and to observe the culture. We're hosting it this year, and you're just in time for it too! It'll be on the coming Monday!"

Kurenai smiled amiably. "That sounds like an excellent idea."

Fudge turned to his colleague. "Barty, would you speak to Ludo about preparing another couple of seats in the Top Box for Ms. Yuuhi and Ms. Hyuuga? They'll be there as my guests, so I don't think he'd mind."

"Of course, Minister." Crouch said curtly.

"Unfortunately, the World Cup is also the reason why the Ministry is so swamped at the moment," Fudge chortled, "so I'm afraid we won't be able to meet with you in the coming week. Negotiations regarding the Triwizard Tournament will begin in the last week of August, so, until then, please feel free to enjoy yourselves here."

Crouch stood up. "Weatherby will be escorting you; if you'd like to go around London don't hesitate to ask him. Don't worry about expenses, Weatherby will take care of everything." he intoned. "Ms. Yuuhi, Ms. Hyuuga, Minister - I'll be going ahead now."

"Oh Barty, can't you stay for a bit more of a chat?" Fudge protested.

"No really, I must be going - Ali Bashir arranged a meeting with me about his carpets, and as it is I'm already late."

Half an hour of small talk later, Hinata and Kurenai took their leave as well, and Percy was waiting for them outside.

"I'll be taking you to your rooms in the Leaky Cauldron - I hope you've traveled by Floo Powder before?"

The older jounin paled. Travel by _powder_? She did not like the sound of that at all.

* * *

**A/N: I'm not particularly proud of this chapter, so constructive criticism would be especially welcome for this one. Haha. Don't forget to leave a review! **

**Also, I've been asked about the pairing, and...well, I'm not exactly sure right now. Naru/Hina is a particular favorite of mine, and yes, Naruto will be making an appearance in this fic, but I don't think either of them are ready for a relationship with each other. Actually I'm leaning towards... well I wouldn't want to spoil the fun, would I? Hehe. **

**Reviewsreviewsreviews yay okay guys they make my day, and though I'm not an animal who lives on reviews, they do help motivate me! **

**~Vertigo**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Wow, this one's a doozy. It always irritated me whenever I read HP Naruto crossovers how Itachi or Kakashi or whoever could learn magic in the space of a few months. I mean, they may be geniuses, but they can't possibly master Transfiguration or Charms that easily. **

**Another point of interest for me is the fundamentals of magic. I seriously want to read about how magic is done, what Charms is like, etc. Actually, I just really want to read their textbooks, and maybe read about magic from a pure scientific point of view, but maybe that's just the chemist in me. I might publish a fanfic in the form of an academic paper soon, but I think I'll just focus on Attache until the First Task is finished, at the very least. **

**I know that my writing can be a bit slow, and I'm still trying to improve it. Hehe. I'm sorry, but this is the first multi-chapter fic I have ever written. I hope it turns out okay. **

* * *

Being an only child, Hermione was used to sleeping in on quiet Sunday mornings. When she woke up and went downstairs, her dad would be sitting at the dining table with the newspaper and her mum would be stacking up French toast or pancakes, and they'd have a nice, quiet breakfast together.

That's just not possible in a household as packed as the Weasley's. Banging and clattering from the upstairs bedroom woke her up, and, disgruntled, she rolled over to check the time on the clock Ginny kept on her bedside table.

7 AM. Who in their right minds would be up and so noisy this early in the morning?

She lay back and shut her eyes groggily, trying to sleep through the banging, when Mrs. Weasley rapped at the door. "Come on girls, get up. Ginny, could you go upstairs and try to wake up your brothers? Hermione, dear, Arthur wants to talk to you about those... _stamps_, I think they're called?" Mrs. Weasley's voice grew faint as she clambered down the stairs. "I sent a letter to Harry's aunt and uncle a few days back and apparently I didn't do it right, so now Arthur wants to know exactly how to use - GEORGE!"

Ginny groaned from the bed beside her. "If mum starts screaming about another fake wand I am going to kill -"

"I TOLD YOU A THOUSAND TIMES ALREADY TO PUT THOSE FAKE WANDS AWAY..."

Sighing, Hermione got up. There would be no hope of going back to sleep once Mrs. Weasley got started on the twins. A thunderous fight was going on downstairs as she got dressed and, bracing herself, she went down to the kitchen. Ginny went upstairs to get Ron.. It seems the worst was over when she arrived at the breakfast table, but Fred and George were still sulking, and Mrs. Weasley was irritably setting down plates of bacon and eggs in front of them.

Mr. Weasley looked up from the Daily Prophet he was reading, and smiled at Hermione. "Good morning, Hermione!" he said loudly. Hermione suspected that he just wanted to prevent Percy from talking. Although he was just a fresh graduate, Percy had landed an important job at the Department of International Magical Cooperation, and he hadn't spared an opportunity to brag about this achievement to anyone who would listen.

"Good morning Mr. Weasley! Mrs. Weasley was saying something about mailing a letter to Harry's aunt and uncle?" A heavily-laden plate slid over as she settled into her chair.

"Ah yes. I've been meaning to ask about how the... err... _stamps_ are used?" the balding man said excitedly.

In between bites of egg, Hermione explained the Muggle Postal system as best as she could. Percy looked slightly put out - he wanted to tell his father about how he had accompanied an envoy to dinner at the Bones' a few days ago. The arrival of a grumpy Ron and an equally ill-tempered Ginny spurred him to talk about work some more.

"You know, Ron, Ms. Yuuhi brought her apprentice along, who is just about your age. Dad, would it be alright if Hinata, Ms. Yuuhi's apprentice came over here sometime? She wants to meet witches and wizards her age before she... you know, it's top secret so I can't really mention it, but..." Percy trailed off.

Mr. Weasley sighed. "Bill and Charlie are coming home, Percy; it'll be packed, and since we're picking Harry up today and Hermione's staying here as well it'll be even more crowded than usual."

"Apprentish?" Ron asked, with his mouth full of bacon. Ginny glared at him; he swallowed, and continued. "Why does she have an apprentice? Don't they have schools or something?"

"Didn't you hear Percy yesterday, Ron? He mentioned that they graduate from Academy at 12, and after that they're trained under individual senseis with specialized skills. It's really interesting actually; they must have a very efficient -"

"We get it, we get it, Hermione. We don't need to hear it from you too." Ginny interrupted.

"You said they'll be going to the World Cup, right, Top Box seats as well?" Mr. Weasley asked thoughtfully. Percy nodded.

"Well then, maybe they could pitch their tent on our campsite, or stay in the girls' tent. There's plenty of room, and I'm sure Hermione would like to talk to her." he said brightly.

Hermione beamed. "Actually I've already read up on _shinobi_; there was a chapter about them in A History of Magic. There hasn't been recent contact with them, though; the last record of a _shinobi_ in Britain was around fifty years ago. Still, it would be nice to hear from an actual _shinobi_, especially one our age."

"That's because they're nutters." Fred said easily. Across the table, Percy bristled. "They aren't nutters, Fred, I'll have you know that Ms. Yuuhi is a very intelligent woman -"

"Yeah, an intelligent, hot woman, who also happens to be Percy's girlfriend." George snickered.

Percy went very red in the ears, and left, saying something about speaking to Ms. Yuuhi about their travel arrangements for the World Cup.

* * *

Hinata slumped forward on the booth she was occupying in the ice cream parlor. It's been a week since they arrived in London, but because of her disappointing performance during the first meeting with Fudge and Crouch, Kurenai practically forbade her from coming to any more official meetings.

"_I'm negotiating for a slot in Hogwarts for you in the coming term, so it's best if you learn as much magic as you can before you begin. You'll be entering their fourth year so see to it that you master their basic jutsu by September. If they don't agree, well, it'll still be useful to learn about their jutsu anyway_." Kurenai told her, and her sensei informed her that she was to be left behind to 'focus on learning'.

She knew, though, that she wasn't left behind to learn their magic - she was left behind to learn to get rid of her stutter.

However, Kurenai was her sensei, and she wasn't about to disobey her sensei. Weasley-san had been kind enough to help her get books at the Flourish and Blotts, the local bookshop, and although he said that the Ministry was going to cover their expenses she had insisted on paying for them herself. She had purchased four school years' worth of books, after all, along with others that seemed useful. _Curses and Jinxes for the Uncursed and Unjinxed_ by Lewis Quincy looked interesting, and the minute she saw _Chi and Chakra- The Magic of the Far East_ by Hung Jia Mian, she placed it into the shopping basket, which was already full to the brim.

The most interesting purchase, however, was the wand. She set it down on the table, staring at it intently. It was a beautiful wand, made of fragrant cherry wood; when she waved it, the blue sparks it shot out were beautiful as well. Really, the only problem she could see with it was the fact that it wouldn't do any magic properly for her. At all.

She sighed, and rested her head into her hands. She had been studying the theory for the Levitation Charm, _Wingardium Leviosa_, the entire morning. However much she swished and flicked, though, the napkin on the table remained obstinately motionless.

The wandmaker had warned her that it was going to be difficult, and the five hours she spent waving wand after wand had demonstrated exactly how difficult it was. Even Ollivander-san was relieved when the "cherry, dragon heartstring, 8 inches, delightfully springy" finally showered them with blue sparks. She had insisted to pay for the bill at Ollivander's too, although Weasley-san put up a good fight. A few of the wands she tried exploded because she applied too much chakra, and apparently, wands are extremely expensive.

_Maybe Ollivander-san gave me this wand because he wanted me out of his shop_. Hinata thought glumly._ He looked so cross when I managed to destroy the third one._

She reached over to the copy of _Magical Theor_y by Adalbert Waffling, and flipped to the section about the wizard-wand relationship.

_"In the late 15th century, Renaissance wandmakers made further developments with the wand. By the addition of the wand core from a magical creature, wands gained the ability to amplify magic, not just channel it. This minimized the amount of energy that a wizard was required to supply to be able to produce the desired effect._

_Nowadays, all a wizard has to do to cast a spell is to focus and manipulate a small amount of energy into his wand, and the wand multiplies the energy and the desired effect is produced. Because of the reinvention of the wand, modern wizards possess less than half of the innate magical energy than wizards did in the past, but can perform equal, if not superior, wizardry."_

Hinata groaned. It still made no sense to her. To makes matters worse, she didn't know half the words - well, her English vocabulary was quite extensive for a beginner, but these people were so inconsistent with their spelling that she wasn't sure if that was the word or not. _Flourish and Blotts_ sold only spellbooks, so she hasn't been able to buy a dictionary yet.

A tap on her shoulder made her jump so badly she knocked over her sundae.

"Oh, I'm sorry!" a tall but rotund boy gasped. Fortescue, the owner of the restaurant, came over and Vanished the ice cream away.

After everything was cleared up, the boy hesitantly slid into the opposite chair. "Let me get you another sundae - you've barely touched that one and I made you spill it. My name is Neville, by the way."

"H-hello Neville-san. I am Hyuuga Hinata." Hinata said, ducking her head. "Don't worry a-about it, I've been here since the shop opened and I think I've had four -"

But Neville was already placing an order for two chocolate sundaes. "Think of it as an apology. Besides, I was just about to have an ice cream, anyway; my grandmother's at _Flourish and Blotts_ and I didn't want to come along because -" he suddenly blushed and looked away.

She was taken aback - usually she did the blushing and looking away in a conversation. "B-but why did you tap me on the shoulder?"

His face reddened further. "Err, I saw you having a hard time with the _Wingardium Leviosa_ charm. Charms isn't my best subject, but I thought I could, you know, help."

It was Hinata's turn to burn up in shame. The same thing had happened a few days ago, when Fortescue-san saw her struggling to read _The Standard Book of Spells_. With his help, she got the theory down, but none of the spells worked for her. Now this boy comes along wanting to help for the same reason - did she really look that pathetic when she's training with magic?

It was getting embarrassing, really. But it would be nice to actually see how it worked.

"O-oh. Can you please s-show me how it's done, then? she asked timidly.

Neville pulled out his wand, and Hinata activated her Byakugan. It would probably be helpful to see this in the perspective of chakra. "Wingardium Leviosa," he said clearly, swishing and flicking just as the book had said. The napkin slowly rose up to just above their heads, and Neville lowered his wand. The napkin fell back to the table.

"D-do you think my accent makes a difference?" Hinata asked worriedly, eyes going back to normal. She still couldn't pronounce L's very well.

"For beginners, it does. Back when we were in first year, I couldn't do it either, because I thought it was _leviosa_, not_ levi-o-sa_. But with a bit of practice I'm sure you can do it too!" he replied encouragingly.

Their ice cream arrived, and they talked about Hogwarts, shinobi, Herbology, and other things until they finished. Neville's grandmother arrived before they could practice again, and after Neville introduced Hinata to Mrs. Longbottom, the two left.

She turned back to Magical Theory.

"_...Because of the reinvention of the wand, modern wizards possess less than half of the innate magical energy than wizards did in the past..._"

So that was why Neville's chakra coils were even less developed than Lee's. The wand made up for their lack of chakra. A quick check of Fortescue-san's chakra coils confirmed her suspicion that all wizards had similarly underdeveloped chakra coils.

She gathered up her books, paid her tab, and went back to the Leaky Cauldron. Kurenai would probably want to know about this.

* * *

**A/N: Just a heads up to my regular readers (YAY I HAVE REGULAR READERS! Shoutout to deidara-chan's lover214, The Almighty Pyro, and Agrond. Hugz for you guys yay!), my summer term is coming up. I'll be taking a really difficult physics class, so I'm going to fall behind on the updates a bit in the upcoming months. I promise I'll try to update once a week, though! T_T **

**Also, please don't forget to leave a review! Comments and criticism of any kind are appreciated! **

**~Vertigo**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Hello again, guys. First of all, I'd like to apologize for the incredible delay - it's been two months since I last updated. I'd also like to apologize for this chapter; it's been festering for two months and to be honest, I kind of lost the drive to write this. Physics did kick my butt this summer, just as I suspected, but I scraped by with a B. YAY FOR ME. By the time the summer semester ended, I had forgotten what I had planned to include in this chapter. I only recently worked up the love to write this chapter, and even then it turned out like crap. Ugh. I really hope the next chapter will be easier to write than this one. **

**With that said, I will work harder on the following chapter (things will pick up then, I promise!).**

**Last bit: does anybody know a good beta? Or is anybody willing to beta for me? :D I realize that I make a lot of small mistakes here and there, and it would be totally great to bounce my ideas off someone. :**

* * *

Kurenai looked at her student in deep thought. "Underdeveloped chakra coils, is it? So they use minimal chakra to perform a spell... that explains why Percy was so flippant about that transportation spell he used a few days ago." She glanced across the table at the tall pile of books beside Hinata's plate. "Have you made any headway with that charm you were trying to learn?"

Hinata stared at the mashed potatoes Tom had served them for dinner, unable to meet Kurenai's eye. "I've been working on it all week, but I think that I may not have the chakra control necessary to cast the spell."

"That's not your fault." Kurenai said calmly. "Your control is fine for your jutsu, Hinata, so there was no need to improve it before. You're past the water walking exercise already, though, and there's not much space inside the inn either, so..." she trailed off.

Hinata frowned. She had been counting on her sensei's help, but genjutsu didn't require that much precision, unlike healing. If she had to train on her own, it didn't look like she would be able to learn that spell in time for the school year to start. And when she _did_ learn, she wouldn't even be at first year-level proficiency, let alone fourth year.

"Ah!" Kurenai exclaimed, rising. "When you're done with dinner, meet me upstairs. I think I have an exercise you can do indoors."

She really couldn't stomach the cold potatoes anymore, so she gathered up her books not long after her sensei left, and made her way upstairs. When she entered the room, Hinata saw that Kurenai had produced a set of scrolls, all of which were scattered on her bed. She set the books down on the desk and stared at the scrolls.

"Well, I think that's all of it." the brunette muttered. Hinata picked up the scroll nearest to her and unrolled it - a spiral was drawn on it in the black ink used for seals.

"These are the practice scrolls I used when I was learning fuuinjutsu." Kurenai explained. "You can use them for refining your chakra control too, actually. Channel your chakra along the lines, and if it goes past the lines, the paper will react to your chakra."

Hinata looked up from the scroll. "So the paper is just like the ones we used to test our chakra affinity?"

Her sensei nodded. "Don't get them wet, alright? I'm kind of fond of those scrolls - they remind me of... never mind. Anyway, set those aside for the meantime; the World Cup is going to be tomorrow, and I want you to look like you have no idea to dress like a civilian."

* * *

The sun rose early the next morning to find the Weasleys, Harry, and Hermione struggling to set up the tents. Mr. Weasley had insisted on using the Muggle way of erecting it instead of the "normal way", and he got distracted by the mallet that they were using to drive the pegs into the ground. None of them knew how to put it up - neither Harry nor Hermione had ever gone camping before - and this, coupled with Mr. Weasley's overexcitement, delayed their breakfast by a good two hours.

Mr. Weasley stood up, examining their handiwork, and Hermione looked at the tents uncertainly. "Don't look like much, do they?" Harry muttered from beside her.

"I got this from Perkins, at the office. His back's been bothering him too much lately for him to go camping, poor bloke." Mr. Weasley said. "Let's have a look inside, shall we?"

Both she and Harry were surprised when they entered the tent - a very spacious three-bedroom flat was inside, with a set of bunk beds in each room. There was even a small bathroom and a kitchen, both with running water. Ron and the others, however, looked around nonchalantly. Hermione supposed that this kind of thing was normal for them, having been raised in a family of wizards.

"Dad, I'm starving." Ginny complained, looking into the cabinets of the kitchen. "What's for breakfast?"

Mr. Weasley looked scandalized. "We can't cook in here - we're not supposed to use magic! We're supposed to look like Muggles camping, remember? No,we're doing this the proper way, with campfires and skewers and everything!"

Fred and George groaned. "But we're going to have to gather firewood, Dad! We have a stove right there, why can't we use it?"

"No buts, boys." their father said firmly. "Now get that firewood - you three over there, would you mind fetching us some water?" He tossed Ron the map of the campsite, and Ginny pulled out a couple of kettles and handed them to Harry. The five of them filed out of the tent and the twins set out.

"Err, alright." Ron muttered, unfolding the map. "The tap's marked... here." He pointed at the edge of the paper. "We'd better get going, it's a pretty long walk."

As they walked through the campsite, it became clear that Mr. Weasley was the only one who kept to the "No magic" rule. There were tents that were so obviously magical that it was no wonder that Mr. Roberts was getting suspicious - Muggles weren't known to own tents that had three towers jutting out of it, after all. A few children were tumbling about on a small toy broomstick, and as they passed, an extremely stressed Ministry official pushed past them, muttering darkly about lazy parents.

People were beginning to come out of their tents now. A large, dark-skinned man wearing a purple turban was setting up a campfire as they passed, and, looking around surreptitiously, he poked the logs with his wand and they burst into purple flames. Hermione sighed exasperatedly.

"Why isn't anybody following the rules that the Ministry put up?" she grumbled. "There's a reason behind the rules, you know."

"Come off it, Hermione. You sound just like Percy." Ron said, rolling his eyes. "You can't blame them for acting normal; besides, it isn't like there are loads of Muggles around to see their purple campfire."

Hermione took offense at being compared to Percy, but she didn't have the chance to comment - they just ran into Seamus, and after he introduced them to his mum, they ran into quite a few more people. By the time they had queued up at the tap, Hermione had completely forgotten about the insult.

It probably had something to do with the old man wearing the bright, flowery dress a few feet in front of them.

"Archie," a man pleaded, holding out a pair of pinstriped pants, "you can't wear that. Half the memory charms I've been forced to put on Roberts was because he saw you wearing that damned dress, and -"

"Don't you tell me what to do, young man!" the man called Archie said imperiously. Hermione stifled a giggle - the Ministry wizard was balding already, and only someone as old as Archie could pull off calling him a "young man". "Just because I've been replaced as the International Liaison for Potentially Dangerous Magical Allies doesn't mean I've lost my marbles!" he continued, fuming.

Ron sniggered. "So that's the guy Percy pulled out of office." Harry and Hermione both stared at their friend - for all his pompousness, neither of them thought that Percy would be ambitious enough to steal a position from someone.

"Oh come on, of course Percy didn't hex him just to get the job! Although I really wouldn't put it past him." Ron laughed. "He managed to convince Crouch that Archie here is too old to keep it. Mr. Diggory took Archie's job and Percy's his assistant - but Diggory's been away settling some problems with carpets so Percy took his place for the time being. Besides, it's pretty obvious that it'll be best for everyone if Archie retires." he muttered, nodding his head to the old man. He and the Ministry official were still arguing, and upon hearing Archie say "I like a healthy breeze round my privates, thanks", Hermione burst out laughing, and she had to leave the line for fear of upsetting Archie.

Once they had filled up the kettles, they made their way back.

'Potentially dangerous magical allies?" Hermione suddenly said, as they were walking back to the tent. "Percy's job sounds awfully important."

"It is, actually." Ron said absently. He scowled. "Come to think of it, I have now idea what Crouch is playing at, sending someone as young as Percy to deal with shinobi. You know him - he's a huge git, and if he annoys that Yuuhi woman I won't be surprised if he winds up dead the next day."

Harry was taken aback. "What is it with shinobi and wizards, anyway? Even Fred and George didn't seem too happy when they found out we were going to watch the Cup with them."

"Well, they do have a reputation of being double-crossers." Hermione said matter-of-factly. "When the war against Voldermort and his supporters started out, the Ministry hired quite a number of shinobi to protect the few magical communities, right?"

Ron laughed dryly. "Well, that didn't exactly go the way they planned."

"Why? What happened?" Harry asked, blinking. Hermione looked at him witheringly.

"If you just stayed awake for Binns' class, you'd know. You-Know-Who offered them twice the gold that they were receiving from the Ministry, so they switched sides. When he fell, and the Death Eaters didn't give them the money that You-know-who had promised, they killed half of those that survived, then went back to their Hidden Villages. They haven't been in contact since."

They were nearing their campsite, and from the distance Hermione could make out the Weasleys' figures grouped around the campfire, with a few other people she didn't recognize. A beautiful woman with flashing eyes sat next to a man she recognized to be Mr. Diggory, from this morning. They were grouped together with Mr. Weasley, Percy, and two other men she didn't know- both probably from the Ministry. To their left she saw Ginny talking to a small girl who looked as out of place in the cornflower blue sundress she was wearing as Archie was in his ridiculous outfit.

Ron let out a whistle. "Blimey, is that the shinobi?"

"I guess it's them, but they don't look dangerous." Harry said, squinting.

"Ah, there you are!" Percy called out.

Mr. Weasley looked up. "What took you so long?" Percy immediately grabbed Ron's kettle, and started to put together some tea.

"We met a few friends." Ron said easily. He sat next to Fred, and the other two followed.

"This is my youngest son, Ron, and his friends Harry and Hermione." Mr. Weasley said to the strangers. "You've met Mr. Diggory -" Amos Diggory smiled genially at the three of them - "he's the Official Liaison to the Elemental Continent. Percy is his assistant. Mr. Bagman here is the Head of the Department of Magical Games and Sports -" the blond man wearing the outrageous Quidditch robes gave a jaunty wave - "Mr. Crouch is the Head of the Department of International Magical Cooperation -" he gestured to the tall, severe-looking man wearing a pinstripe suit - "and Ms. Yuuhi, the Ambassador from the Leaf Village." The woman looked up and smiled at them brightly.

"Hinata here," Mr. Weasley continued, looking at Hermione meaningfully, "is Ms. Yuuhi's apprentice, and she's just about your age."

The girl's head snapped up and she blushed. Hermione saw that her eyes were white. "H-h-hello." she said. "It's very nice to m-meet you."

* * *

**A/N: I really need criticism to help me with my writing, so reviews will really be appreciated. I hope everyone continues to read this! **


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